Acts of sacrilege draw concern

THE Citizens' Constitutional Forum has strongly condemned the act of temple sacrilege.

CCF chief executive officer Sara Bulutani said all Fijians should be responsible for keeping places of worship safe.

In a statement released by the organisation yesterday, Mr Bulutani said the act of sacrilege and religious intolerance was unacceptable and must be denounced in the strongest terms.

The Vishnu Bhavan Temple in Sasawira, Nausori, the Waila temple in Nausori, the Tirath Dham Temple in Votualevu, Nadi, the Gopal Sadhu Hanuman Gadi Mandir in Nakasi and the recent desecration of the Nasole temple are incidents that have raised the ire of the Hindu community.

Mr Bulutani said the graffiti images on deities and racial slurs were an affront to a multi-ethnic society such as Fiji.

"Despite years of awareness and education on multiculturalism, it is extremely disappointing to see that sacrilege rears its ugly head time and again," he said.